Mark #47 Dec 2013/Jan 2014

German architecture is known for its quality and sustained reliability. In as far as a strong construction industry or structural efficiency goes, attractive designs have yet failed to arise.

However, Germany recently seems to have taken on more than what it can handle in regards to projects plagued by unmanageable budgets, endlessly postponed completion dates and unfavourable social, economic and political realities.

In Mark #47, we turn our attention to the three biggest planning headaches of the moment: Berlin Brandenburg Airport, the Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg and Stuttgart’s central train station. High-profile architects are involved in all three projects, and all three are steeped in scandal. How did it get to this point? And what’s going to happen now?

We then visit four new game changing projects designed by Wiel Arets, stop in with yet another iconic landmark from Preston Scott Cohen, peek at Japanese Kouichi Kimura’s Scarpa-influenced work, talk architectural criticism with Christopher Hawthorne, before finishing with unconventional contributions from 51-1 Arquitectos, XTH Architects, TAO and Saunders Architecture.